Blow Out the Candles
by V. Emily
Summary: A one-shot, just-for-fun romance story about how Kensi celebrates her birthday. K/D.


**Let's hear it for sappy one-shots! Woo-hoo! This is Densi, Birthday Edition. Have fun reading! Personally, I'm counting down the days until the 22nd 3rd-season episode...Kensi and Deeks never disappoint! On that note, let me know what you think about this, please.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned NCIS: Los Angeles, I would die from sheer happiness. But I'm alive and typing this disclaimer, so obviously that isn't the case. Oh well. By the way, though I reference them, I do not own the Beach Boys either. I have a surfer-type friend who loves their music (I've listened to it at my father's request but it's not really my favorite) and I remember "Surfer Girl" as one of her favorites.**

**Without further delay: read, enjoy, and (pretty please?) review!**

Kensi remembered years of childhood birthdays, her parents making a fuss over presents and parties and cakes. Even later on, when it was just her and her dad, she was still loved and made special on her birthday. There was a gap of a few years after her father's death that she was alone on those days, but then she'd met Jack, and someone had cared about her birthday again. But he'd left, too. She didn't really pay much thought to it day-to-day, but whenever her birthday rolled around, she was forced to acknowledge that she was again alone.

This was one of those days. March 12th. A day that had used to be celebrated with family, then with her fiancee, and now with no one at all.

But as usual, she tried not to let it bug her. After all, it was just another day. The fact that it was anniversary of her birth was nothing special. So she got up, showered, got dressed, ate a breakfast that was severely lacking in nutrition, and set off for work. Kensi wondered as she pulled into the NCIS parking lot if Deeks knew it was her birthday today. Probably not. She didn't usually mention these sorts of things. Still, it might make for a tad of fun if she decided to casually drop this fact at the end of the day. She was aware that both she and Deeks had a sort of unspoken agreement not to care much about these things.

"Morning," she said with a yawn as she walked into the bullpen. As usual, Callen and Sam were at their desks, and Deeks had yet to arrive.

"Hey, Kensi," Callen said casually, barely glancing up from the form he was writing on.

"Where's Shaggy?" Sam asked, bemused.

"Why should I know?" Kensi shrugged. "He doesn't need a babysitter." She paused for a beat, then said with consideration, "Well...yes he does. But Deeks doesn't need _me _to babysit him; that's my point."

"What he needs is an electric collar," Callen pointed out.

"And a leash," Kensi added.

"While we're at it," Sam said, joining in. "How about parental locks on his Internet and TV?"

"Uh-oh, has Callen been naughty?" came the surfer drawl as in entered the detective with the unkempt hair.

"No, Deeks," Sam shook his head. "Actually, Kensi was referring to _you_."

Deeks turned to his partner is surprise, exclaiming, "Oh! Kensi. Hi. It's, uh, you."

"Yeah, it is," Kensi wrinkled her temple and regarded him with suspicion. "This is kind of where I work. Experiencing some memory loss, are we?"

"No, I just, um..." Deeks stuttered. "Just didn't expect to see you here."

"You need to take a trip to the nurse's office, Deeks?" Kensi asked, concern lacing her tone. "Because you're weirding us all out."

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Deeks assured her, trying to regain his composure.

"I wasn't worried about you," Kensi said mildly. "I was concerned that if you were really sick, you might cause staining on the office floor."

"Oh, that's so caring of you," Deeks laughed. He seemed to have snapped out of whatever oddness spasm he'd experienced.

"These are expensive tiles, Deeks," Kensi reminded him. "If you're going to be sick, leave."

"I'm not sick," the detective insisted again. Callen and Sam watched on as if being entertained.

"Wait a minute," Kensi said with realization. "I know _exactly_ what your problem is."

"Do you?" Deeks arched an anxious eyebrow, as if he would be crushed that Kensi knew what was wrong with him.

"You did something terrible and you're afraid I'm going to find out," Kensi accused, then abruptly stood up, serious now. "Deeks, did you do something to my car? You scratched it, didn't you? You were parking your stupid car and you scratched mine! I'll bet that's exactly what happened, isn't it?"

"What? No!" Deeks put up his hands defensively. "Course not! I would totally own up to that."

Callen and Sam gave him "oh-would-you-now?-that's-interesting" looks from their respective desks. Deeks paused for a minute, considering.

"Fine," he admitted. "Maybe not. But you can go out to the parking lot and see for yourself. I didn't hurt your precious car."

Kensi stared at him for a long moment. "I'll take your word for it," she allotted. "If you'd really scratched it, you wouldn't tell me to go look, so...Yeah, fine. But whatever you did wrong, I'll find out about it, Deeks."

"Never keep secrets from federal agents," Callen advised, returning to his paperwork.

"I know that," Deeks said with a snort. "Me? Keep a secret from _her_?" he jabbed a finger in Kensi's direction, then took a seat at his desk. "That'd be asking for the death penalty."

"No," Sam corrected. "That'd be begging for the death penalty. You'd be lucky if she put you out of your misery."

Deeks shuddered, making Kensi grin smugly from across the bullpen.

"Don't go all pale, Deeks. Like Hetty said - a dose of paranoia is healthy," Kensi told him. "You need to be reminded of how much you're scared of me."

"No reminder necessary," Deeks replied assuredly. "Definitely. Nope. I'm good."

Kensi snickered and glanced down at her paperwork. She sighed. "I guess I'd better get started with this."

Deeks flipped lazily through the forms that cluttered his desk. "Oh, look. A mission report. I guess I forgot to fill this one out."

"How do you _forget_ a mission report?" Callen asked. "And how did you get away with it?"

"I guess his side of the story is never interesting enough," teased Kensi. Deeks didn't make a retort, but only shrugged and proceeded to attack the empty mission report with his pen.

The day rolled by slowly, with occasional banter and conversation highlighting the boring office work. Deeks complained he would get carpal tunnel from the extended use of his writing hand, Kensi told him to suck it up, Callen and Sam sided with her...business as usual, Kensi thought. So what if nobody knew it was her birthday today? She didn't know when _their _birthdays were, right? Well, yes she did. But that was different. She was a girl, after all, as unreadily as she might admit it. Besides, even if the guys did recognize her birthday, a celebration would just be awkward and embarrassing. Kensi decided she was fine with March 12th becoming just another work day.

Around lunch time, Deeks piped up, "I'm going to go to that sub store on Theodore Avenue downtown. Anybody want anything?"

"Theodore Avenue?" Kensi repeated, confused. "That's like twenty minutes away. Just go to the sub store on the corner."

"Nah," Deeks shook his head. "I heard the one downtown has better sandwiches."

"I know the one you're talking about," Callen mentioned. "They're okay, but not great. Why go all that way? There's a million shops closer."

"Because I want to try something new," protested Deeks. "Okay? Anybody want a sandwich?"

Callen and Kensi told him their orders, while Sam said he'd just go to the eatery down the street. Deeks left, whistling a tune as he walked out the door. Callen and Kensi remained in the bullpen.

"He's certainly chipper today," Callen noted, tapping his pen on his desk.

"Since when do you use words like 'chipper'?" Kensi questioned.

"Since Deeks started acting like a sap."

"Fair enough."

"What do you think he's really up to?"

Kensi looked at Callen as if in surprise, but in reality she'd been wondering the same thing. "Why do you think he's up to anything other than getting our lunches?"

Callen chuckled, saying, "Really? You know he's lying, and so do I."

"He'd have no good reason to lie to us," Kensi said. "You heard him. He might be Deeks and he can be a real pain, but he wouldn't lie."

"Maybe he has a secret girlfriend," Callen suggested, not able to keep the smile off his face. It really wasn't a far-fetched idea, though he pitied the girl that would date the liaison-detective. Kensi scowled a little at the notion of Deeks in a relationship, just as Callen had expected her to.

"If he had a girlfriend, he'd mention it," Kensi insisted.

"_I hope so, at least," _she thought, that familiar twinge of jealously in her heart. _"Though I'm sure she's no good for him." _Kensi paused for a moment, considering. Why did she automatically assume that any girl in a relationship with her partner was no good for him? Reluctantly, she admitted to herself that it was because that girl wasn't her.

"_Ugh," _she almost winced as she thought of this. _"Stop it. You don't like Deeks and Deeks doesn't like you. You can't just freak out because your partner actually has a social life. Deeks's world doesn't revolve around you, Kensi. And even on the slight chance that it does...you know that could never work out well."_

Another part of her mind - the small, gushy-romantic-novel part she liked to ignore most of the time - asked threateningly, _"And why couldn't it?"_

"_Three reasons," _Kensi thought. _"Reason A: you're partners, and partners can't get involved in things like this - things like our "thing", whatever that may be. It just isn't right to get so emotionally attached, when either or both of you could die on any given day. Reason B: you're the first-date-only girl, remember? Nothing can ever get as serious as it was with Jack. Don't you remember that Christmas morning?" _Kensi did flinch this time. Of course she remembered! How could anyone forget how it felt when your heart was tearing in two? When she'd figured he'd gone on a walk, and as the minutes turned to hours, she made herself realize what he'd done? How could she ever forget all those tears?

Gushy-Romantic-Novel Brain retaliated with, _"Could you ever imagine Deeks - Martin Deeks - leaving you like Jack did?"_

"_No," _Kensi sighed as she answered in her head. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't picture Deeks ever hurting her if it was within his power to prevent it. In any given scenario she played out, Deeks was like an immovable boulder. He wouldn't budge no matter what situation she placed them in.

"Kensi, are you okay?"

Kensi snapped back to attention, Callen's voice startling her.

"Huh?" she muttered. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine."

"Everyone's so messed up today," Callen said to himself, rising and stretching. "Coffee machine is calling. Do you want a cup?"

Kensi held up her brimming, steaming mug as an answer, and Callen walked off, leaving her alone at her desk to daydream. She didn't have to think too hard to imagine a tidy, two-story creme-painted house with a porch and blue window shutters. A patio with two chairs around a glass table, a hammock strung between old trees in the backyard...she could perfectly picture her and Deeks sleeping in that hammock, the light and warm summer breeze rocking them. Kensi could practically feel his arm around her, could smell one of his T-shirts, and a small grin spread to her face. She quickly realized what she was imagining and shook her head, her smile falling into a worried frown.

"_No way," _Kensi told herself mentally. _"Stop imagining a married life with your best friend. Not healthy - and it'll never happen, either. Don't be a little girl with a crush. You're more mature than that."_

Her stubbornness and the past ordeal with Jack convinced her to put those forbidden, hinted-at feelings behind her. No, they could just be friends, like always. Kensi was a strong person, she knew, and she was confident in her ability to lock those feelings away for good.

"Hi, Kens." Her heart didn't even flip-flop when her partner returned a half-hour later.

"Hi, Deeks," she responded casually. "Those subs had better be worth the wait."

"I can guarantee it," Deeks said, tossing the wrapped sandwich onto her desk. "Almost."

Kensi unwrapped it, watching him warily, and took a bite. The bread, cold and stale, made a crunch.

"Take a note, Deeks," Kensi instructed. "Never go to that sub place again."

"Noted," the detective said with a grin. "I guess they're not as good as I remember."

"Are you hiding something?" she asked him outright. "You have a great memory for this kind of stuff. I know you knew these sandwiches would be awful. So why'd you really go downtown?"

"No reason, Kensi, like I said - I just wanted to mix things up."

Kensi regarded him with exasperation on her face. She gazed at him like that for a long moment before conceding. It wasn't that she believed him, she just knew she wouldn't get any more information if she prodded.

That evening, Callen and Sam invited her to go sparring in the gym. Deeks volunteered, as usual, to stay behind.

"Someday you'll come with us," Callen informed the liaison.

"Sorry, buddy," Deeks responded.

"Then someday, you'll regret not coming with us," Sam told him. Deeks still mildly declined the invitation.

"See you, then," Kensi said as Deeks picked up his bag from his desk.

"Bye, Kensi," her partner didn't even glance up at her. He began to gather a few things into his bag.

Reluctantly, Kensi followed Sam and Callen, gym bag in hand. After sparring, she showered in the locker room and quickly brushed out her tangled hair. She returned to the bullpen to collect a few things she'd left behind: her purse, her coat, and her wallet.

As she neared her work area, she heard faint music and wrinkled her brow.

"_Where the heck is that coming from?"_ she wondered. _"Usually we're not allowed to use speakers or anything."_

Then, arriving at the bullpen, the noise grew louder. A soft and slow tune by the Beach Boys met her ears, and she gasped at what she saw in the work-space.

Streamers in many colors hung from the wrought-iron grill to the opposite wall. Balloons floated lazily from their weights in the corners. A radio sat on Deeks's desk - the source of the music. On Kensi's desk was a large, cylindrical object covered in a cloth to keep it hidden. And there, in the middle of it all, was Deeks, grinning like a fool.

"Happy birthday," he said, sweeping his hands out to the sides.

"You did all this?" Kensi asked, unable to speak above what was nearly a whisper.

"No, it was Monty," Deeks said with an absent wave of his hand. "Of course it was me!" he broke into an even wider smile.

"I thought you forgot about my birthday," Kensi admitted. "No, scratch that. I don't think I even ever told you when my birthday was."

"You didn't," was Deeks's reply. "But I'm a detective. I can figure these things out." He gestured to his head. "Using all this."

Kensi gave him a skeptical stare, and Deeks sighed.

"Fine," he said. "And maybe some personnel files, too. I just figured you'd go out, do something special tonight, take the day off. That's why I was surprised to see you at work this morning."

"Well, Deeks, you were right," Kensi informed him. "I actually _am _doing something special tonight."

Deeks couldn't keep his face from falling as he said, "Oh. Sorry. I should've asked if you had time for this before I set it up."

"No, moron," Kensi laughed, walking over to him. "I'm doing something special here tonight with _you_. Now will you please just dance with me already?"

Deeks looked surprised, to say the least. "You'd trust me to?" he asked. "Last time we danced, I stepped on your toes."

"I'm willing to give it another shot," Kensi responded. "And besides, we don't have to waltz."

A very unbelieving Deeks put his hands on her hips, and Kensi linked her fingers just behind his neck. They stood like that in the middle of the bullpen - her hair still dripping from the shower, both of them in ratty old jeans and T-shirts - and swayed slowly as the CD in the radio played "Surfer Girl" by the Beach Boys.

"Kind of ironic, isn't it?" Kensi observed as she listened to the song lyrics. "I'm not the surfer, you are."

"True," Deeks realized. "But whatever. If you're letting me dance with you, heck if I care what the song's about."

"That's pretty sweet of you," Kensi said with a soft smile as they continued to sway. "So, what did you have planned for tonight?"

"I made a cake," Deeks replied, quite obviously proud of himself for doing so. "Chocolate with chocolate frosting. And then maybe we can play Spin the Bottle."

"Deeks, you realize we're the only ones at this party, right? The game wouldn't really work."

"Says who?"

Kensi stared up at him for a long time. Here he was, practically inviting her to kiss him. Those old worries about Jack, about being left alone, disappeared as she met his blue eyes. All she saw was sincerity, a trust so strong she almost shivered. Kensi saw none of those uncertain, unsure elements in his eyes that she had always feared she would when (if ever) this moment came. Any doubts that she the feelings she knew deep down she had for him were mutual were gone. Gone like Jack: no more uncommitted ex-fiancee haunting her, no more doubting Deeks, no more worrying, no more what-if's, no more half-hopeful daydreams, no more hiding. Kensi felt her shell falling away as she looked at her partner and he looked back at her. This was the real deal. She was free.

And as the band on the radio sang, _"Do you love me," _Kensi stopped swaying and leaned up to kiss her partner. His eyes were wide open at first, completely shocked. After all, he hadn't expected her to actually take him seriously, as he'd secretly hoped she might. Then he shut his eyes, and pulling her closer to him, he kissed her, too, softly and gently.

When they parted, Deeks reopened his eyes to look into hers, and he grinned wider than he ever had. Never in his long line of dates, girlfriends, and flings (and it was a line that went on for miles, he could assure you) had he ever felt something so...true, he supposed was the word to describe it. There was no trace of lust, no impurity, none of those infamous emotions that he realized had driven his past romances. This is what love - pure, genuine, and untarnished love - felt like, and Deeks liked it. No, loved it. He loved this feeling of love. It was like all those sappy songs they had both rolled their eyes at suddenly made perfect sense.

Kensi, meanwhile, was confused. If she had ever felt this way with Jack, she was sure she would have remembered it. Deeks was not Jack. He was strong (despite ridiculous weaknesses such as needles and hangnails), he was immovable, and best of all, he loved her. She knew it now. And she also was sure now that she loved him, too.

"Well," Deeks said finally. "This birthday party turned out better than I'd hoped for."

"Yeah," Kensi agreed quietly. She looked back up at him. "Deeks, thank you."

"I should be thanking _you_," Deeks replied, hugging her close.

"You know," Kensi mentioned. "I was fine with today being just another workday. But I much prefer this instead."

"Good to hear," Deeks seemed honestly glad that she'd said this. "Now, how about some cake?"

It turned out the cloth-covered object on Kensi's desk _was _the homemade chocolate cake. It looked absolutely flawless. Deeks wasn't going to tell his partner how many cakes he had baked last night to get it just perfect. He lit the few small candles on the top of the cake and began to sing "Happy Birthday" by himself. Being Deeks, he of course had to throw in the "cha-cha-cha's" between each line, but Kensi didn't mind (and even liked it, as her smile indicated to him). Her face, illuminated by the five tiny flames of the striped wax candles, was a beautiful image Deeks knew he wouldn't soon forget. She really did look completely happy, and Deeks's heart soared because he knew why.

Kensi leaned towards the cake at the end of the song and blew out the candles in one breath.

"What'd you wish for?" Deeks prodded right away.

"It's bad luck to tell you."

"Well, maybe I can help you with your wish. Please, Fern? With a Twinkie on top?"

"Fine," she gave in, then grinned at him sheepishly. "I wished every night could be as nice as this."

"I don't think that'll be a problem for me."

Deeks pulled her into another long embrace.

"I love you, you know," he whispered. "Happy birthday, Kensi."

Kensi, laying her head on his shoulder, decided that hearing Deeks finally say "I love you" was a better gift than anything she'd ever put on birthday lists for the thirty years she'd been alive.

"I love you, too," she said, stating the obvious. Kensi's mind was already thinking of birthdays to come that would no longer be spent alone - and, for that matter, any other given day for the rest of her life. The radio, meanwhile, was finishing another song.

"_It won't ever die..." _sang the Beach Boys.


End file.
